Santa's Sweetheart
by LanieSullivan
Summary: A follow-up tale to the Season 4 episode "Santa's Got a Brand New Bag." We know how Lee and Amanda spent Christmas Eve, but not how they spent Christmas Day. A peek into how they spent the day, them finally exchanging gifts, leading them both to the best gift of all.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. I retain rights to the plot, but not the characters. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only. No infringement is intended.

Author's Note: Since "Santa's Got a Brand New Bag" ended with the evening of Christmas Eve, I thought I'd write this little piece to outline what Lee and Amanda did on Christmas Day. I hope you enjoy.

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On December 25th, Amanda King sighed deeply as her front door was closed in front of her. Her frown deepened as she peered through the front window and watched her young men happily bounding down the front walk toward their father's sedan that was parked at the curb. She turned as the car doors slammed and slowly made her way across the staircase landing.

"Cheer up, Amanda, it's not as if you're never going to see them again," Dotty said as Amanda stepped into the den.

"I know, Mother. It's just that this is, you know...the first Christmas Day that I've ever spent without them. I mean, even after the divorce, Joe was always traveling, so we never had to worry about how to share holidays with them. Now, that he's back, everything's...different."

"I know, Darling, and I'm going to miss having the boys here for Christmas too, but isn't that the whole reason that you decided to do the presents last night instead of today?"

"Yes, it is," Amanda agreed with another sigh as she sank down on to the couch in a fit of depression.

"Besides, when was the last time that the boys got to spend any time with their other grandparents? You shouldn't want to deprive them of that," Dotty pointed out as she sat beside her daughter.

"I know, and I don't...want to... It's just..."

"Different, you said," Dotty repeated her daughter's words. She stared at her for a moment and then piped up "Speaking of things being different with Joe back, I think there's something else that you should seriously consider making different with him."

"What's that? If you're going to suggest that we try to work out our differences again..."

"No, Amanda, I'm not. It's much too late for that. You're very obviously in love with Lee." Off Amanda's look as if she were going to deny it, she added, "Don't think I didn't notice the two of you last night, stealing little kisses when you thought no one was looking."

Amanda blushed slightly. "You saw that, huh?"

"I did," Dotty confirmed with a nod. "I also saw Lee seeing you greet Joe with a kiss **and** I saw how he reacted to it. He was not happy at all. In fact, I'm quite sure that I saw a little flare of jealousy there."

"Jealousy? Mother, don't be ridiculous. Lee knows that that's just a friendly gesture and that there's nothing between Joe and me anymore."

"Does he? It didn't seem so by the look on his face last night, In fact, I'm betting by that look, he would have liked nothing better than to rip Joe apart with his bare hands."

"Oh, Mother, don't be so melodramatic. It was nothing."

"It's **not** nothing, Amanda, not when you're talking about love. Look at it from his point of view. Joe is a man that you shared ten years of your life with, a man that with whom you share two children and if you're kissing him and calling him "sweetheart" in front of Lee, how do you think that makes him feel? Do have a special name like that for him?"

"I...uh...I..." Amanda stammered and then cringed as it struck her that she'd called Lee "sweetheart" when they were shopping, then had turned right around and called Joe "sweetheart" in front of him when they'd arrived at the house last night. She sighed again and stared at the floor.

"Okay, then think about it this way," Dotty suggested. "Think about how you would feel if Lee were kissing another woman in front of you."

"I get what you're saying, Mother," Amanda nodded.

"What is Lee doing today anyway?"Dotty inquired.

"Probably sitting at home watching football," Amanda responded with a shrug as she recalled the first Christmas that she'd known him and how he'd described his normal Christmas activities.

"That seems like an awfully lonely way to spend Christmas day. Doesn't he have any family to spend the day with?"

"No, just an uncle who's in the Air Force and can't always get away for Christmas," Amanda explained.

"How sad," Dotty mused with a frown. "What about his parents?"

"They...Um...they died in a car accident when he was really little." She decided to give her the simplest explanation, not wanting to delve too deeply into the details of their deaths.

"Oh, that poor man. Well, it's no wonder he was clinging to you the entire time that he was here last night. I bet he was terrified." As her mother rambled on, Amanda couldn't help agreeing with her as she'd recalled the way that he'd worriedly tried to back out when they were at the front door last night. "He probably hasn't got the first clue how to act around a family since he's never had one of his own." Dotty then smiled at her daughter, "Of course, that could all change if the two of you start getting serious about one another. It would be so good for the boys to have a man around the house again and you never know. One of these days, _**you**_ might just give him the family he's never had."

"Oh Mother, don't tell me you're going to try to get me married off again with a dozen babies." She rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"I never said a dozen, maybe just one...or two," Dotty suggested, a merry twinkle in her eyes. "Lee's a very good man. Don't you think he'd make a wonderful father? And with his good looks and your beauty, can you just imagine how adorable your children would be? Our course, then you'd need a bigger house, but you know that wouldn't be a bad idea anyway. I mean, I can't imagine that he would want to live here in a house that you used to share with Joe."

"Mother, you're _really_ jumping the gun here. I mean, Lee and I have only been seeing each other for a short time." Amanda cringed inwardly at lying to her mother again, but she knew it had to be done. She then reflected back on how excited Lee had been about the prospect of them buying a home together, even talking about selling everything he owned to buy the one in Rockville that he'd fallen so in love with and felt would be the perfect fit for their family. _Family,_ she thought, then his words that day really began to sink in. " _I always planned that when I settled down, my kids would have horses."_ At the time, she'd thought he'd been talking about Phillip and Jamie, but her mother's words had now begun to make her wonder if he hadn't been hinting that he wanted kids of his own.

"Amanda, just how stupid do you think I am?" Dotty countered equally exasperated pulling Amanda from her thoughts. "You may have just admitted that you're dating him, but I've known for a long time that there was more between the pair of you than you let on. For example, just last week when the two of you were trying to help me help Harry, the way you interacted with one another, the way you finished each other's sentences, the way you both seemed to know what the other is thinking...That tells me that there's a very deep connection between the two of you. Then there's the fact that you ran off with him to God knows where when he was in trouble. Why would you do something like that for a man that you didn't care for very deeply?"

"I was in trouble too," Amanda reminded her, "And I already explained that to you. I left because I thought you'd all be safer without me here because we didn't know what those government agents were going to do or the people who framed us for treason. Staying here would have just put you or the boys in danger."

"I still don't understand that at all," Dotty said with a shake of her head. "How on earth did the two of you get mixed up in something like that anyway?"

"How did you get mixed up in that whole mess with Dr. Zernov?" Amanda challenged to turn the tables on her mother. "I work for the government, remember? It makes much more sense that I would get involved in something like that than you, don't you think?"

"We're getting off-topic here," Dotty said defensively. "The point that I was trying to make is that I don't understand why you're trying to hide a relationship that's obviously making you very happy, happier than I've seen in a long time. Why is that?"

"It's complicated," Amanda answered evasively.

"No, it's not, Amanda," Dotty argued. "It's very, very simple. You love him and he loves you, so there's no reason that you shouldn't be moving forward in your relationship. I have to admit that when you finally arrived last night, I was hoping that it wasn't due to work like you said it was and that it was because Lee had wanted to have a little alone time with you. The way that he looks at you as if he can't live without you had me hoping that his Christmas present to you would be a diamond ring."

"No, Mother," Amanda shook her head wondering how her mother would react if she knew that Lee had given her a diamond ring nearly two months ago.

"Well, what _did_ he get you?"

"I...Um...I don't know," Amanda responded curiously. Now that her mother had brought it up, it was making her wonder what her fiancé _had_ bought her for Christmas. "We were so busy with work; he didn't have time to get my present from his place."

"Maybe you should go over there and find out," Dotty suggested. "You could kill two birds with one stone that way; find out what he got you and keep him company. No one should be alone on Christmas Day. Everyone should spend the day with someone that they love and that man loves you very deeply. I see it in his eyes every time that he looks at you."

"Yeah, I know he does, but what about you?" Amanda asked. "You shouldn't be alone either."

"Oh, I won't be. I imagine my sister will be up any time now. I'll have her to keep me company and we'll probably just find some sappy Christmas movie to watch on TV."

Amanda had to admit the idea was tempting, but she still felt a twinge of guilt at the idea of not spending the day with her mother. "I don't know," she said hesitantly.

"Amanda, just go see him, wish him a Merry Christmas. Joe's not bringing the boys back until tomorrow evening so you can have the whole day with the man you love," Dotty said and then added suggestively, "Maybe even the whole night?"

"Mother, really," Amanda said with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh, please, Amanda, are you seriously going to tell me that on all these "work" trips, that the two of you have never-?"

"That is none of your business," Amanda answered quickly, but couldn't help the flush that crept into her cheeks as she said it recalling memories of the long weekend that she and Lee had spent at Pine Top.

"Just as I thought," Dotty crowed with a knowing grin. "Now, go on and give your man a little Christmas...cheer."

"You know, I think I will," Amanda replied determinedly as she rose from her seat. "I just want to change clothes first and I need to stop by the office and get his present."

"That's the spirit," Dotty cheered her on as she watched her daughter trotting up the stairs, hoping that by the time next Christmas came around, they'd be spending it with Lee as a real member of the family.


	2. Chapter 2

Lee sat on his couch, a roaring fire in the fireplace, a large bowl of guacamole dip on the coffee table in front of him, a football game on TV and was just about to uncork his traditional Christmas Day bottle of Dom Perignon when there was a knock at his door. He set the bottle down. "Huh," he said with a shake of his head as he walked to the door, wondering who was behind it since pretty much everyone knew that he liked to be alone on Christmas Day. When he opened the door, he couldn't help smiling at finding his fiancée' standing there, a Santa hat on her head and a zippered tote bag slung over her shoulder.

"Hi," Amanda said with bright smile. "Merry Christmas." She greeted him with a lingering kiss.

"Mmm," he sighed returning her kiss. "Merry Christmas to you."

"Can I come in?" Amanda nodded toward his living room.

"Oh, yeah, of course." Lee opened the door wider to let her in and then closing it behind her. "Sorry, I...Um...I was just surprised to see you."

"Oh," Amanda said disappointment evident in her voice. "If you'd rather be alone, I-"

Lee silenced her with a finger to her lips, "No. You should know by now that you're welcome here anytime." He kissed her softly and then added, "I just figured you'd be at home with your family, you know, spending the day with the boys."

"No," Amanda said. "Joe took the boys to spend the whole day and night with his parents. Didn't I tell you that?'

"Oh, right, yeah, you did. Sorry. With all the craziness yesterday, I guess I just forgot. You know, your timing is perfect. I was just about to open this..."he picked up the bottle and grinned at her, "Care to share it with me?"

"Love to," she answered with a warm smile as she set her bag down on the floor beside the couch.

"Let me just go get another glass," Lee said as he exited for the kitchen.

"What are you watching?" she called.

"Sun Bowl, Alabama and Washington," Lee answered as he re-entered the room, the bottle now opened and poured them two glasses. He handed one to her. "But now that you're here, maybe I can find some _other_ form of entertainment this Christmas." He fixed her with an seductive gaze, his hazel eyes and dimpled smile boring right through her.

"I'll drink to that," Amanda replied with a devilish smile of her own as she clinked her glass with his.

"I thought you might," Lee crooned as he sipped at his champagne. As he watched Amanda doing the same, he couldn't help noticing sparkle of the diamond he'd bought her captured by the firelight. "You're wearing your ring," he nodded to her left hand.

"Yeah," she answered as she glanced down at it for a moment, smiled warmly, then looked back up to meet his loving gaze. "I figured that since everyone knows not to bother you on Christmas and since the only time I can wear it is when we're alone...I just...I wanted to wear it." She set down her glass and walked to the entryway, removed her coat and hung it on the coat rack, not wanting him to see the tears that had formed in her eyes; her mother's words had struck a nerve.

"Hey," Lee said soothingly as he set his own glass down, then followed her, placing his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. He cupped her face in his hands and asked in concern, "What's going on here?"

"I...Um...It's nothing," she denied as she pasted on a bright smile and blinked back the tears.

"Amanda," Lee challenged in a warning tone, "Come on, this is me you're talking to and I know that face. That's not a "nothing" face. That's a you've-got-something-on-your-mind face. Talk to me."

"It's silly, really. It's just...uh...after having you at the house last night with the family, Mother said some things...things about you and me...things that...well, kind of hurt."

"Things about me?" Lee questioned worriedly. "I...Um...I thought she liked me."

"Oh, she does," Amanda hurriedly assured him to alleviate his obvious insecurity. "She adores you, in fact." She sighed and continued as she made her way back into the living room, kicked off her shoes and sank into the couch, tucking her bare feet beneath her, "But that's part of the problem." As she sat there contemplating her mother's words, her melancholy only increased as she glanced down at her left hand watching the diamond in her ring reflecting the fire's glow.

Lee reached for the remote to flip the TV off, so there would be no distractions and sat next to Amanda, draping an arm across her shoulders and said, "I don't get it. How could it be a problem that you mother adores me? I mean, if she's going to be my mother-in-law, shouldn't it be a good thing that she likes me?"

Amanda leaned into him, taking comfort in his arms and answered, "The problem is that she doesn't know that she's going to be your mother-in-law. She saw us last night, sneaking kisses here and there and it brought up some questions...questions that I wasn't prepared to answer."

"Ahhh...I think I see where this is going. She wants to know if my intentions are honorable," he surmised as he reached for his glass.

"Sort of, but it's more than that, Lee," Amanda explained. "She told me that since it took us so long to get to the house last night, that she had sort of expected me to come home wearing a diamond ring. Then she started talking about you having no family and having a man around the house again and babies and a bigger house and it was just too much. It made me think that we'll never have any of those things, no house, no babies..." her voice trailed off.

"Babies?" Lee questioned swallowing hard to avoid choking on a mouthful of champagne. "Is that something that you've been thinking about?"

"I don't know...sort of..." Amanda responded with a shrug.

"Amanda, come on. There's no "sort of" about it. Either you have or you haven't," Lee replied firmly as he tipped her chin up to get her to look him in the eye.

"Okay, yes, I've thought about it. I mean, I saw how excited you were when you were talking about horses and kids and a house and..."

"And?"Lee pressed.

"It made me realize then how much you wanted a family of your own, but then when all the chaos erupted with Khai and his little boy, that all fell apart."

Lee sighed. "You know, I've been doing some thinking too. I think we need to re-think this whole idea of a "mystery marriage." It really hit me when I was at the house last night spending time with you and the kids that if we keep on the way we are, while I may be welcome in your home, they'll always see me as an outsider if they don't know how serious I am about you, about spending my life with you."

"No, Lee," Amanda argued.

"It's true, Amanda. It won't matter that we're married if they don't know about it and I've also been thinking that we should either change our game plan or I should stop visiting the house. It's not going to matter if we keep our marriage to ourselves if I'm seen regularly coming and going from your house. That could still put our family in danger. I mean, what would happen if someone attacked the house when I wasn't there to back you up? I'd never be able to live with myself if you or one of the kids got hurt because I wasn't there to protect my family."

"Your family, huh?" Amanda said with a smile.

"Yes, Amanda," Lee replied. "My family. We may not be married yet, but you, the boys, even your mother, you're my family." He paused for a moment, unsure if he should say what he was thinking, but he knew it had to be brought up eventually. He took a deep breath and said, "While we're on the subject of family, you mentioned babies. I...we...Um...never really talked about it, but you...Um...you mentioned that you'd been thinking about it. Just how seriously have you been thinking about it?" He sighed again. "What I really want to know, I guess, is if you would seriously consider having another baby, _my_ baby?"

"Is that something you want?"

He set his glass aside. "Mm-mm, Amanda. You're not going to get out of this by answering my question with another question. Now, come on," Lee demanded with a firm nod.

"Yes, if that's what you wanted," Amanda told him.

"But is it what you want?" Lee asked. "I wouldn't want you to do it just because you think it might be something that I want."

" _Is_ it something you want?" Amanda questioned.

"Is it something _you_ want," Lee fired back unwilling to let her skate by this time with her answer only being to repeat his question. When she didn't answer, Lee grinned at her. "I can do this all day, Amanda."

"Well, I'd really like to know what you think first," Amanda replied.

"I asked you first."

"Lee, come on, this is childish," Amanda scolded as if he were one of her children.

"Then answer my question," Lee prodded insistently. "I'm not letting you get out of this. This is our future we're talking about here."

Amanda sighed and finally answered honestly, "Yes, Lee, it's something that I want, but I never knew if you-" Her words were cut off by his lips on hers as he pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her. She responded by sliding her hands up into his hair and kissing him back with all the love she felt for him. When they came up for air, Amanda caught just the slightest glimmer of happy tears in her fiancé's eyes illuminated by the firelight.

"Yes, Amanda," Lee said as he kissed her tenderly. "By the way, I never did get a chance to tell you how beautiful you look. I really like your dress." He gazed at her appreciatively at the knee-length red dress she wore, the wide straps at her shoulder, revealing just a hint of her creamy skin underneath without being too revealing.

She rose to her feet, did a little twirl for him, and said, "You like it, huh?"

"Mm-hmm," he said.

She reached for his hand to urge him to his feet and said, "Well, if you like this, you should really like what I've got on underneath it," as she slid her hands to his shoulders.

"Oh?" He murmured against her, a devilish glint in his eyes.

"Mm-hmm," she purred as she nipped at his neck.

"Mmm," he sighed at the contact.

"Let's take this to the bedroom," she whispered into his skin before pulling back, looking him in the eyes and saying, "Start practicing for making the baby that we both want."

Lee shook his head and replied in a deep husky voice, "I'm thinking the bedroom's too far away," as he gazed longingly at her.

Seeing the dark look of raw desire in his eyes, Amanda felt a shiver travel up her spine and nodded. "I think you're right," she concurred in a raspy whisper as she pulled him to her for another scorching kiss.

The pair soon became lost in one another as their kisses and touches grew more heated and Lee lowered them both to the floor in front of the fireplace, pulling back for a moment to look into her eyes. "You know as much as I love your outfit, it makes me feel completely underdressed." He indicated his own relaxed attire of sweatpants and tee.

"Well, we can take care of that," Amanda responded seductively as she tugged at the bottom of his tee.

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	3. Chapter 3

They lay tangled together a while later, both wearing satisfied smiles as Amanda traced lazy circles on Lee's chest with her left hand, her head resting on his shoulder. "Well, now we're both underdressed," Lee quipped as he cradled her to him.

"So, we are," she laughed. She looked up at him as her laughter died off, her tone becoming more serious and said softly, "I love you, Sweetheart," but then shuddered slightly as she said it as her mother's words echoed in her ears again.

"You cold?" Lee questioned worriedly at her shiver and made a move as if to get up.

She stopped him with a hand on his chest and answered, "No, not with you here to keep me warm. It's just...just something else that Mother said...something that hadn't even occurred to me before."

Lee laughed and asked, "What else could she possibly have said? In her mind, she's already got us married with a house, a two-car garage and a half-dozen new grandbabies for her to fuss over. What else is she planning for our future?"

"It's not about that really," She explained as she pulled away from him nervously, walked back toward the sofa, picked up the blanket from the back of it and wrapped it self-consciously around herself.

"Amanda..." Lee was beginning to get concerned as he rose from his spot on the floor, reached for his discarded sweatpants, hastily pulled them on and then reached for her. Bracing his hands on her shoulders, he turned her to face him, then tipped her chin up to look her in the eye. "What is it?"

"Calling you Sweetheart," she confessed.

He smiled warmly at her. "Is that what you're worried about? I liked hearing it."

"I know...I know you did," she replied as she placed her hands on his chest and looked down again. "But the thing is, what Mother brought to my attention is that I called Joe sweetheart last night right in front of you..and I...just...just didn't even think about how that might make you feel and...and I...I-" Her words were silenced by Lee's lips on hers, his hands sliding to the back of her head to pull her in closer. Their earlier kisses had been those of passion and raw desire, but these were of love and devotion, long and lingering until the pressing need for oxygen separated them. "Lee, I'm sor-" Again, she was stopped by a kiss from her fiancé'. After another long moment of tender kissing, they pulled apart again. "Lee-"

Finally, Lee placed a quieting finger to her lips and whispered, "Amanda, stop. What do I have to do to convince you that I'm okay? The thing with Joe...yes, it makes me a little jealous because he's shared things with you that I never have, but I also understand that you have a deeper connection with him than anyone I've ever had in my past." He took her hands in his and continued. "The sweetheart thing...it doesn't really bother me..it's an old habit...I get that...I have old habits that are hard to break that I know drive you crazy too...like for example...trying to get out of celebrating Christmas."

Amanda couldn't help laughing and responded, "Okay, but it is a bad habit for me and I will try very hard to be more conscious of it in the future."

"And I promise to try not to be such a Grinch. Besides, seeing you at Titan Toys in that little Santa's helper costume...in the Santa hat today..." He released one of her hands and picked up her discarded sheer red bra that was strategically adorned with white balls of fluff like the hat she'd come in wearing, "And this..." He winked at her, "gives me a whole new appreciation for Christmas."

"Give me that," she scolded as she snatched it from his hands, tossed it aside and slapped at him playfully.

"Hey, you're the one who wore it," He fired back.

"Not for long, thanks to you."

"Wasn't that the point of wearing it?"

"Well...yes, but that's beside the point," she replied as she meekly batted at him again.

He captured her hand in his, gazed at the diamond ring there and said, "You know, I'm thinking..."

"Ooh, that's dangerous," Amanda jested.

"Hey!" he protested with a playful swat to her bottom with his free hand. "I'm trying to be serious here."

"I'm sorry, go on."

"What I was thinking is that there's no reason that you couldn't tell your mother that this ring _was_ my Christmas present to you. I mean, we both agreed that the idea of the mystery marriage would never work, right?"

"Right, especially if we want to have a baby," Amanda confirmed with a decisive nod as she linked her arms around his neck and kissed him tenderly. "By the way, you never did give me your actual present."

"Oh, right," Lee extracted himself from Amanda's embrace long enough to retrieve her gift from the cabinet beneath his TV.

While he did so, Amanda plucked Lee's tee from the floor, opened her bag to retrieve his gift, then sank down onto the couch, and draped the blanket across her lap. He slid beneath the blanket with her and handed her a small box, while she handed him the flat one he'd seen beneath their office Christmas tree. "Hmmm, too heavy to be a scarf," Lee teased.

"Just open it," Amanda said impatiently.

Lee tore off the wrapping paper and opened the box beneath it and his breath caught in his throat as he saw what was inside. "Amanda, I...I don't know what to say," he said, his voice choked with emotion as he gazed at the collage of family photos in its pewter and silver frame, his parents' wedding photo on the upper left, his parents with him as a child below it. In the upper right, Amanda's parents' wedding photo with a similar photo of her and her parents beneath it. There was a snapshot of Phillip and Jamie in the upper middle between the two wedding photos, his uncle in his uniform with him at age ten in the lower middle and in the center one of only four photos that existed of him and Amanda celebrating their engagement. He remembered vividly the day that it had been taken. It was the same day he'd left her engagement ring on her desk. After sharing a long, lingering kiss, he'd swept her out of the office and taken her to the same photo booth that had led to her rescue from Addi Birol and insisted that they need to have something to commemorate the moment. In the photo, they were cuddled together, their hands linked in a way that prominently displayed her engagement ring, both wearing bright, happy smiles. He gazed at the entire thing as a whole and smiled at the words, _our family_ , engraved on the frame.

"Do you like it, Sweetheart?" Amanda asked as she leaned over his shoulder.

"I love it," Lee said, marveling at her creation; how it must have taken her a lot of time to find the right photos to put together and take the tiny little photo booth picture to have it enlarged to fit the frame. "How did you manage to put this all together?"

"Your uncle helped with the photos of you and your parents and the one of you and him, the rest were easier," Amanda explained.

"Hmmm, that explains a lot," Lee shook

"What do you mean," Amanda asked.

"The Colonel called me this morning to wish me a Merry Christmas and he asked me how I liked my gift from you. He seemed disappointed that I hadn't gotten it yet. What made you think to do something like this?"

"Well, when you started talking about getting a new house, I thought, I don't know...that this would be something we'd hang in our home. I started putting it together then, but I...Um...I almost didn't finish it when we started talking about keeping our marriage hidden because we wouldn't be able to have a home together, but then I thought that maybe it wouldn't have to stay hidden forever and I wanted to give you...give us...something to look forward to in the future. I thought that someday we'd take out the engagement picture and replace it with a wedding picture of our own. Then these two empty spots at the bottom, I thought...I don't know, maybe our children... I just kept thinking, that well...maybe we wouldn't have to keep our marriage a secret forever and we'd have...you know...time... It's silly, I know."

"No, Amanda, no it's not silly at all. It's a beautiful, thoughtful gesture." He paused for a beat. " **My** gift to you is silly in comparison."

"Oh, I'm sure it's not," Amanda said reassuringly.

"Just wait until you open it to make that call," Lee warned with a gesture to the tiny box in her hand.

"Well, come on, it's too small to be a scarf," she quipped. When he glared at her she clarified, "That means it's got to be something special that you picked out just for me." She tore off the wrapping paper and opened the velvet-covered box inside, her eyes widening. "Lee," she gasped as she gazed in wonder at the open-heart diamond earrings inside. "They're gorgeous!" she exclaimed. "And they... they match..." her voice trailed off at the thoughtfulness of his gift as she lightly fingered the heart that dangled from the platinum chain around her neck.

"...the necklace that the boys bought you that you love so much," Lee finished for her. "I...um...I saw them in the jewelry store when I was shopping for your ring and that was right after I'd given you back that necklace from when Birol took it from you. You...uh...you were still in the agency infirmary recovering from what he did to you and I...I don't know. I know how women like to coordinate everything and since you wear that necklace all the time to show your love for the boys, I thought it might be nice for you to have something from me to match it. Like I said, silly."

"No, that's not silly. It's a very sweet thought and I'll always think of you when I wear them."

"Good," He said with a smile.

"I love them," Amanda gushed as she leaned in and kissed him tenderly. "And I love you."

"I love you too," he said. "As for this," Lee said indicating the framed collage in his hands. "We _will_ have a home to hang it in."

"So, we're agreed then, no mystery marriage?"

"No mystery marriage," Lee replied. "Normal family life all the way." He nodded toward the chips and guacamole still on the table. "Guess that means this is my last Christmas doing that."

"It doesn't have to be," Amanda countered.

Lee looked at her in confusion. "But you and the boys...your mom...you have your own Christmas traditions. I wouldn't want to shake things up. Things are going to be weird enough for the boys with adjusting to having a new man in their lives while we all get used to each other."

"All the more reason to incorporate your Christmas tradition into ours," She replied hopefully.

"I don't follow you," Lee shook his head, more confused than ever.

"Look, you said yourself when we were shopping that the boys are getting too old for toys, right?"

Lee nodded. "Yeah...still not following."

"Okay, look...last night we opened presents the night before because Joe was picking the boys up this morning, but normally we're up at the crack of dawn Christmas Day to open them early and after that, we just relax. I mean, we do the family dinner, but during the rest of the day, Mother and I usually just sit on the sofa watching old Christmas movies while the boys enjoy their new gifts, but with them getting too old for toys, maybe it's time to do things a little differently. And you know, being boys, they like football too." She gave a nod to the silent television. "If I'm not mistaken, aren't chips and dip traditional football snack food?"

Lee grinned broadly at her and her reasoning. "You think they'd go for it?"

"Sure, I do! And what better way for the three of you to get to know each other than with some...what do they call it these days...male bonding? You know...yelling at the TV...calling the officials stupid or the receiver a butterfingers?"

He laughed heartily at that, "Okay, okay, I get your point."

"I hope so. Just because we're starting a new life together, that doesn't mean that you have to give up _everything_ in your old one."

"I do think I'll have to skip the champagne part, though," Lee said with a serious look on his face. "I don't think drinking with the boys would win me any stepfather of the year awards."

"No, don't skip it. Just save it for you and me when we're alone...like now. Yes, things are going to change for both of us, but that doesn't mean that they can't be positive changes for our future and for our family." Amanda paused for a moment as she lightly fingered her engagement ring and then said, "You do know that the second that my mother sees this, she's going to start planning our wedding, right?"

"Let her," Lee said with a decisive nod feeling confident that he and Amanda had a shot at a real future for the first time since fear had overwhelmed in seeing Khai's family nearly torn apart. "It can't happen soon enough for me." He set aside their gifts on the coffee table, reached for their forgotten champagne glasses and said, "With that in mind, a toast. To our future Christmases with our family"

"To our future Christmases," Amanda replied happily as they both sipped at their champagne. "Now, how about that football game?" She reached for the remote to switch the TV on, tossed it back onto the coffee table and then snuggled back up against Lee as they sat together both wearing satisfied smiles regarding the decisions they'd made regarding their marriage.


End file.
